Students in this course may make contributions here. Submit under the alias that was assigned to you.

This sandbox is set up for IP edits, which should be from a campus computer if you don't want to publicize your IP address. Student who contribute under usernames should understand that these pages are routinely purged in such a way that only the history page documents the contributions.

Future edits by the 2015 Astronomy course should be made here: Astronomy college course/Presidential sandbox


John Adams   (1797-1801)

edit

1 inspired: What is the lifespan of a star like our Sun (before fusion ceases)?

5 billion years
10 billion years
15 billion years
20 billion years

2 copied: A star that first begins its lifespan is known as a

protostar
red giant
red dwarf
blue giant
yellow dwarf

3 copied: The constellation Aries is named after the Roman god of war

true
false


Thomas Jefferson   (1801-1817)

edit

James Madison   (1809-1817)

edit

James Monroe   (1817-1825)

edit

Andrew Jackson   (1829-1837)

edit

Earth's inner core is believed to be ______ the surface of the Sun

not nearly as hot as
approximately as hot as
much hotter than


John Tyler   (1841-1845)

edit

Planetary science

edit

1 A shield volcano consists of

argon
sediment
iron
magma

2 The largest volcano on Mars has the name

Olympus
Mauna Lou
Europa
answer
answer


Stellar evolution

edit

1 Stellar evolution is the process by which the ratio of Type-1 and Type-2 stars has changed since the big bang.

true
false

2 Stellar evolution is the process by which a star changes during its lifetime.

true
false

3 Most stars more massive than the Sun end their lives as Supernovae. copied verbatum

true
false

4 A black hole is defined as any object that absorbs all the light that strikes it

true
false


James K. Polk   (1845-1849)

edit

Planetary Science

edit

all questions are copied verbatum or only slightly edited. The only exception is the Sierpinski triangle and other geometric doubling questions, which were inspired by the Jupiter to Earth mass and diameter ratios.

1 What two types of volcanoes have been found on Mars?

shield volcanoes and volcanic vents
shield volcanoes and composite cone volcanoes
vocanic vents and mauna loa

2 The solar system's largest volcano is on

Mars
Earth
Jupiter
Venus
Europa

3 The solar system's largest shield volcanoes are large because of

lack of oxygen
low gravity
large gravity
rapid plate tectonic motion
absence of plate tectonic motion

4 How many times larger in volume is the largest shield volcano in the solar system compared with the largest shield volcano on Earth?

100 times larger
1 times larger (because it's on Earth!)
30 times larger
3 times larger
300 times larger

5 Jupiter is _____ times smaller in mass than the Sun

10
100
1,000
10,000
100,000

6 Jupiter is _____ times smaller in diameter than the Sun

10
100
1,000
10,000
100,000

7 When you double the length of a square you get ___ times as much area.

2
4
8
16

8 When you double the length of a cube you get ___ times as much volume.

2
4
8
16

9

When you double the length of a Sierpinski triangle, you get ____ times as much Sierpinski triangle
 
Include only black

2
3
4
5
6

10 When you double the length of a piece of string, you get ____ times as much string.

2
3
4
5
6


Stellar evolution

edit

1 Isolated dwarf stars are stable, remaining in this form indefinitely.

true
false

2 Isolated dwarf stars are unstable and end up as neutron stars

true
false

3 What is the outward force that sustains a white dwarf's diameter

pressure from photons
pressure from X-rays
electron degeneracy -- the same thing that makes metal difficult to compress
neutron degeneracy -- the same thing that makes atomic nuclei difficult to compress

4 The neutron star is formed

in the core as soon as the star forms
from a core collapse of large star
when a black hole ejects its mass
answer

5 Where are the black dwarfs (formed when white dwarfs cool to blackness)?

at the center of galaxies
the universe is too young to have formed them
at the center of the universe
at the outer rims of galaxies
they lie between the galaxies

6 Why do white dwarfs take longer to cool?

the volume is too small
the mass is too small
the mass density is too small
they are located in a part of the universe that doesn't cool
the surface area is too small

7 For mid-sized stars, the next step after being in the main sequence is to become a

red giant
white dwarf
red dwarf
neutron star
protostar


Millard Fillmore   (1850-1853)

edit

Newton's Dark Secrets

1 copied:Newton predicted that the world would end in

2012
2060
1642
2084

2 modified slightly: One of Isaac Newton's favorite books as a child was written by John Bate in 1634 and had the title:

The Mysteries of Nature and Art
The Mysteries of Math and Science
The Mysteries of Math and Astronomy
The Mysteries of Science and Spirtuality

3 modified slightly: Invented by Newton, this subject changed the way science has been done to this day:

algebra
trigonometry
calculus
geometry


Franklin Pierce   (1853-1857)

edit

Planetary science

edit

1 This layer of Earth's atmosphere consists mostly of hydrogen and helium

exosphere
stratosphere
mesosphere
troposphere
hydrosphere

2 A rigid layer of Earth consisting of the crust and the top of the mantle is called the

exosphere
lithosphere
thermosphere
hydrosphere

3 Earth bulges out at the north and south poles

true
false

4 What is not one of the factors typicaly required for a planet or star to possess a magnetic field?

liquid core
conducting core
hotter at the center
positive ions
rotation

5 On Mars, the largest of 4 shield volcanoes on _________ is called _________

Tharsis Montes ... Olympus Mons
Aphrodite Terra ... Ishtar Terra
Tharsis Montes ... Arsia Mons
Ishtar Terra ... Aphrodite Terra
Arsia Montes... Olympus Mons


Stellar evolution

edit

1 Stars are born out of the gravitational collapse of something called a 'giant ______ cloud'

atomic
nuclear
molecular
hydrogen
heluim

2 The term 'brown dwarf' refers to a(n)

old white dwarf
young white dwarf
young star
dying star
failed star

3 The primary source of nuclear energy for small main sequence stars is the fusion of helium into carbon

true
false

4 The primary source of nuclear energy for large main sequence stars is the fusion of helium into carbon

true
false

5 The primary source of nuclear energy for large main sequence stars is the fusion of helium into carbon

true
false